


Talking Tactics

by unbelievable2



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 21:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1442722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbelievable2/pseuds/unbelievable2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon needs something to take his mind off things.... like a bullet.<br/>A light-hearted little response to Sentinel Thursday prompt #498 - "play"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talking Tactics

“So, what do you think, Sandburg? How’s Jim going to play it?”  
“Do you wanna lie still? There’s nothing to see, and if there was, you’d be likely to get your head blown off!”  
“Yeah, but you know how he does things nowadays, now he’s… you know…”  
“What, forty, you mean?”  
“Quit with the attitude, Sandburg. C’mon, humour me here, I need some distraction.”  
“Well, I reckon he’ll go for the ol’ four-four-two manoeuvre.”  
“The… four… what?”  
“Oh, come on, Simon, I don’t know what he’ll do. I depends on the circumstances. He doesn’t have a set repertoire, you know - ‘If it’s Thursday, it’s a trampoline’, or something… Look, will you lie still, for crissakes? You’re wriggling out of that bandage!”  
“Oh, that’s what you call it?”  
“Har har, Simon. Bushwhacked beggars can’t be choosers. Look, help me out here. It’s still bleeding. You need to lie still and not get agitated.”  
“Hey, we’re about to get over-run by six gorillas in Hell’s Angel costumes with more fire-power than the National Guard. Nothing to get agitated about _there_ , no siree…”  
“Just try to think happy thoughts…”  
“I want to take my mind off this damn leg! Why, oh why is it always the same side? You’d think the laws of chance would allow other body parts to get hit from time to time.”  
“It’s probably something to do with movement patterns, Simon; which foot you lead with, how you distribute your weight, that kind of thing.”  
“Not distracting enough. Come on, try harder!”  
“Okay, so what do you want to know? Jim Ellison’s top five hostage recovery techniques?”  
“You know, just the kind of thing he might be thinking of doing. If he was coming to rescue us, that is.”  
“He’ll be here, Simon.”   
“So, you see him in the field far more than I do these days. What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve seen him do? No, don’t frown like that. I’m not going to tell tales. Just, you know….”  
“Distraction…”  
“Yeah, distraction.”  
“Well, the very first case we worked on – I mean, I wasn’t even part of the PD… oh, all right, so even less a part of the PD than I am right now… he threw himself off that interstate bridge onto the roof of the bus that the Switchman had commandeered. I mean, I was inside, so I didn’t see that, of course, but it would have been pretty wild, right?”   
“Okay, that’s a start…”  
“And then… hey, this only happened last week! He drove the truck onto the flat bed of a car transporter, so he could get hold of the perp driving it. Man, that was far out…”  
“Hmmm, and that was the car chase that finished by the transporter running directly into that car showroom?”  
“Ah, oh, yes. Well, you know, Simon, you gotta break eggs to get omelettes!”  
“I’m still dealing with the paperwork on that one. Not distracting enough, Sandburg. All it does is give me a reason to hope for long term sick leave after this little escapade.”  
“And then there was that time when he abseiled down a cliff face to save a lost princess using a rope woven from my own hair…”  
“Sandburg! I want to take my mind off stuff, not end up Loony Tunes!”  
“Sorry, Simon. It’s just…well, it’s very hard to predict what Jim will do. Other than probably the most dangerous stunt you could dream up. But it’s not deliberate. He genuinely has no concern for himself when he’s working – it’s all about the arrest, or the rescue…”  
“And that worries you, huh?”  
“Oh man, that worries me. I mean, I know he’s been doing all this stuff far longer than I’ve known him. But I really want him to stick around for a while yet.”  
“He’ll be fine…”  
“He’s not Superman, Simon, and nor are you. Look at you. Why did you put yourself in harm’s way today?”  
“You know why. It’s the job.”  
“Don’t give me that. You’ve done enough in your career already to endanger yourself. Why increase the risk?”  
“It’s just bad luck, Sandburg, just like getting shot in the same side again.”  
“No surprise how many police marriages end up in divorce. Oh, sorry, Simon, but you know…”  
“Yes, kid, I do know. It’s hard to get the spouse to understand the pressures of the job, why you can’t switch off. A bit easier when you’re both on the force, like you and Jim... Oh, I didn’t mean… well, maybe… I mean, you two are pretty close, right?”  
“Yeah, I guess we are, Simon. Does that give you a problem?”  
“Oh, don’t get all pissy, Sandburg. I know, it’s the Sentinel thing.”  
“Yeah, that’s it.”  
“And I understand how you guys can be so close. Though, you know, if it were something else…”  
“Something else, like what? Oh, don’t answer that, Simon, I’ve heard the rumours, too. Let’s put it down to departmental gossip, shall we?”  
“I just meant, even if you were… well, PD procedures don’t really affect you directly since you’re not a cop. So, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t really mind what you get up to. I mean, from a Sentinel point of view.”  
“And what if it were another point of view?”  
“As long as you don’t do anything that would bring the department into bad repute.”  
“What, like publicly admitting I’m a fraud, maybe?”  
“See, that’s my argument. Seems to me, there’s little else you two could do to cause more trouble than you have already.”  
“I think you’re delirious, Simon. This is Jim and me you’re talking about. We’ve hardly got started….”  
“You’ll do okay, kid…”  
“Hey, Simon? Hey, man, open your eyes for me? Simon, wake up, man! Don’t do this! Oh shit, shit, shit! Come on, Jim, this is way past a joke! Simon! Simon!”  
“What the hell was that?”  
“Jesus, Simon, I thought you’d died on me! Don’t do that again! Keep your head down, we don’t know what’s detonating over there!  
“Is that Jim?”  
“Hang on, let me have a quick look. Yep, smoke grenades and some big motherfuckin’ fireworks – looks like SWAT are with him.”  
“Oh, the four-four-two?”  
“What? Jim, over here, man! No, Simon, that really was a joke. Jim, he’s not doing good, we need paramedics right now!”  
“On their way, Chief. Okay, Simon, come on, man, just hang on a little bit longer…”  
“So, Jim, did you weave a rope from something?  
“What? What’s he on, Sandburg?”  
“Ignore him, Jim. He’s rambling. He’s also got a wild idea in his head we’re gay. But as it happens, he’s fine with it.”  
“You don’t say? Well, I hope you made a note of that conversation, Chief.”  
“So, come on, Jim! Distract me! I’m in pain here! How did you get into the warehouse! Those walls are pretty high.”  
“Well, as a matter of fact, Sir, I used a kid’s trampoline that was lying in a dumpster out there. The stuff people throw away nowadays…”  
“Hot damn! So it _is_ Thursday, Sandburg?”  
“Yes, Simon, I think it probably is….”

_++Fin++_


End file.
